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In an attempt to find more about the people Shukaku had killed the night he took control of Fujiko, Arika and Fujiko follow her steps back to a cave. What they find could be clear concern for Sunagakure of something far bigger to come.

"Burning Sun - Discovery of the Cult"

Land of Wind

It has been a few days since Fujiko awoke after losing wakefulness as she sometimes does. As usual, it was plagued by nightmares. The kind that make you wake in a sweat, and quickly look around to make sure that none of the things that had happened to you or another had actually happened. On that night three days ago, Fujiko had awoken after a nightmare, but the nightmare hadn't ended. It had become a nightmare outside of dreams. What is worse is what the context of this nightmare was. Blood. All over her and all over the people she had killed. She was in the midst of a drama that the Shukaku would have started to try and cause her to fall.
Two days later, as the sun begins to set, and Fujiko would be at the scene of where it all had happened in order to better understand what exactly had happened. "This is the spot. The bodies have already been moved, but the blood is slightly harder to move from the sands." Fujiko would crouch at the spot she remembered waking up at, brushing the sand away and exposing the blood-stained sands beneath. "… I've slipped far, Arika… I should try and find out where these people came from." She would hope Arika would share her burden, given that she asked Arika to come along. "It is disturbing to think that when I am not awake, the beast has the power to overtake my ability of motion and kill freely… I would like to find the place of those I had killed. I would like to lay flowers upon their doorstep, as my personal way of… apologizing to their spirits…"

Arika wrinkles her nose a bit. "How come Shu-jii keeps on taking over?!" she huffs, the girl displeased. She looks inward for her answer, but… ~…~ Yeah, he wasn't talking anytime soon. The girl sighs a bit and says, "What're we looking for, anyway? People?" She makes a handseal to gather chakra and then a number of inky creatures would skitter off in hunt for… Well, anything! "I dun think I had this many problems when I was at this stage…" Then again, Ping was strengthening the seals everyday …

RPCOMBAT: Arika defends against with a INK-SCOUT-I…29

Fujiko was unsure herself. Kuoroke's work wasn't anything to scoff. His seal wasn't weak. This was clearly a rather concentrated effort on the demon's part "This is an isolated incidence, young Arika." Fujiko rubs her hands together. "I have never spilled innocent blood before." Ever. Fujiko looks into the sand just as Arika's little scouts burrow into the sand. Those scouts likely find blood. A trail of blood that was underneath the sand. One that was likely covered by sand and missed by the forensics team. This trail was easy to miss by normal perception.
That trail lead southwards, deeper into the desert. The Ink Scouts can easily follow the trail to the source, which means that whomever Fujiko had killed was dragged a distance after killed.

RPCOMBAT: Arika defends against with a INK-SCOUT-I…29

Arika has her ink scouts continue to move along the sand, following them as they move. "This way, Fuji-chan!" she says, ignoring the other Jinchuu's words. ~Maybe… I could take over a bit?~ 'Uhhhh…. no.' ~What about?~ 'I dun think that's a good idea. /Later/.' ~No fun…~ Arika glances back over her shoulder to check to see if Fujiko is following. "Ne… D'you have more friends? Any that c'n watch over you when you sleep?" she asks.

Fujiko crossed her arms a moment, raising a brow as Arika moves off. "Well… Aren't you confident…" How did Arika know? Fujiko would trust her, due to knowing that she was not only being a vessel like she, but also because Arika did seem too green to tell a fib.
It seemed as if Fujiko, rather the Shukaku, had dragged the dead individuals a far distance, but where the blood ended was a cave rather than a house. Instead of a house near an Oasis to lay flowers upon for Fujiko to apologize, it was a cave. It was well hidden, and rather unmarked. The very entrance of the cave were lined with half-smashed water-containing vessels which all contained the symbol of a bright sun upon them…

Arika blinks a bit as she continues on, eventually finding the cave. "Huh… 's Kinda pretty here," Arika comments, making a handseal. A shadow clone would appear next to her and start peeking around for now. Arika turns to look at Fujiko. "D'you recognize anything? I dun think I ever seen this before…" she frowns a bit and tries to burn the imagery into her memory banks.

RPCOMBAT: Fujiko defends against with a PERCEPTION…21

Fujiko can't say she does. She picks up one of the old cases and looks at the symbol. "Sun… A bright sun. seems like I don't recall anything about this cave… Perhaps there were travelers inside that I… hunted to this cave and killed. Funny. I don't recall ever seeing this cave during my usual runs. Hmm." She would set the vase back where it was, exactly like it was. A tactic ninja employ often to make it seem as if they were never there. The walls of the cave were made of a brilliant red sandstone, that was even more red as the red setting sun shone brightly upon it. Fujiko would run her hand along the intricate carvings. "Take a look at this…" It seemed to be a rather recently, yet ornately crafted carving in the wall with crude painting upon it. If Arika wished to look upon it, it might be important. Fujiko herself has already looked. "A very odd wall indeed. Something about… a weapon? I can't tell, the writing on the wall is terrible. What dialect is that even? Hmph…" She seems to move in further.

RPCOMBAT: Arika defends against with a INK-SCOUT-I…44
RPCOMBAT: Arika defends against with a AIR-CURRENTS…31
RPCOMBAT: Arika defends against with a PERCEPTION…31

Arika and her clone continue to look around, examining everything with a scrutinous eye. She blinks when Fujiko calls her over and wanders towards the Jinchuu, peeking at the wall. "Hmm… Lemme copy it down," she says, grabbing a piece of paper from her pouch and scribbling a copy of the wall's runes. "I dun think I get what it says at all," she admits, tucking the sheet of paper into her pocket. "What should we do now, though?

Seems as if the writing on the ruins was instructions involving something rather special… It had something to do with glass release, and also the sun. It was something that would likely be reported. "Let's go in… The deepest we can." Fujiko would turn and move down into the cave more… The rough floors of the cave seemed to smooth out, and the inside grew to something even larger. Almost as large as an auditorium. Fujiko whistled. "Well, this was all chiseled out. Impressive…" There was more blood here, actually. Far more blood. It seemed that this was where the Shukaku started his rampage. What was strange was that there were many strange tables where individuals could be strapped down. There were also wells in which blood could flow freely leading from the stone tables. It might be clear that these were altars. It seems that any corpses that had come here were recently dispatched in some way out of the cave. "Has a very… cult feel… Are you writing this down, Arika? This needs to be investigated further…"Arika could likely further evidence that this cave had hidden doors, where her wind would find small gaps that the ink clones could not…
Perhaps there was more to the story than 'Shukaku recklessly kills innocents'. Truly, the blood here was not infused with sand. There were also a few well-crafted daggers lying on the tables. Shukaku might not have killed arbitrarily, but in defense of the host. Wouldn't that be a happy ending? "… Heh… This, Arika, is definitely a cult…" Fujiko would crouch into a small basin filling with blood and stick her finger into it. She would raise it to her face before wiping it off on the altar right beside it. "Honestly, I was hoping to just leave some flowers at someone's door… The story might just be a -little- more than we can chew off alone…" though, Arika knows where the hidden tunnels are… She could further explore what was going on here.

Arika looks around the area as they continue forth, most of her instincts screaming something along the lines of 'GTFO'. She frowns and says, "I dun like this…" The girl knows that the passages continue somehow, as she could feel some of the cracks in the seemingly-sealed chamber, but… "I dun like this… Le's go back t' Suna and report it to Kuo-kun or Itami-chan," she suggests, tugging on Fujiko to try and lead her fellow back towards the exit. Even as she speaks, Gyuki can't help but be bored. So he starts to yell at Shukaku… A lot. Very very loudly on a level that only the Bijuu within would be able to hear.

The Shukaku would then speak to Gyuki for the first time in a long while. *Tone it down, 'Squid'! I did this for a reason… None of them deserved to live. Heh…" The Shukaku would chuckle a few moments. "Who said I never did anything for Sunagakure?"

Gyuki snorts a bit. ~You should give the poor girl a bit of warning, then. That way /we/ don't have to go running around all the time. Of course, if Arika has her way, we'll be running around even more than I'd like…~ Arika huffs faintly and just keeps dragging Fujiko out of the cavern. It gave her the creeps. She took down as many notes as she could, too, so Kuo couldn't be mad at her, dang it!